Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

It may not be just VMP with price increases I've noticed that prices have been creeping up in general. The records in my Amazon cart have been sitting there around 33 dollars for a while. I usually keep them in the cart and buy when they're discounted. It just seems like the deals are coming less frequently also.
 
Imagine this:
You love VMP, you love those stupid pseudo-obis and the colors and the emotion of not having any idea when your albums will arrive. You love VMP because it's the best damn records club.
But you also don't have a lot of money, so you subscribe for three months.

And in those three months, you pay 40 dollars for Lapsley. Or Tennis.

Yeah, I love this.
 
I can't imagine they didn't calculate exactly this reaction. I guess they want far less customers on the one hand, but such that are willing to pay upscale prices for an average product compared to audiophile pressings. Also they want to thin out monthly and 3 months subscriptions and try to get everyone subscribed for a yearly subscription. This means they would need to put less effort into their RotMs and could sell more records with cheap rights that cost less money. If most people join on a yearly basis it's less important to present great RotMs to win customers.
So the more I think about it, I believe they really think that loosing many members while raising prices must give them more profit in the end.
 
The more I think about the numbers, the more I think that VMP is just actively trying to lower their subscriber base. Hike prices up 40%...if you lose a bunch of members, you could still be hitting the same numbers you're hitting in gross sales while also lowering your production and inventory costs (less members = less ROTMs pressed = less copies of Patrice Rushen sitting on the shelves). Less members theoretically means less CS issues to deal with. Everything becomes simpler. It's a crazy business idea though IMO...to actively piss off your customers and hope that enough won't be mad (or won't notice) and will stick around blindly.

edit: jinx @Bluecloud777
 
radiodead said:
Company tried to get too big without doing any of the necessary foundational work. Should have stuck to their bread and butter. A few great tracks and minimal exclusives. Anthologies and all of the fluff (remember when they would shoot like music videos for certain tracks???? Jesus what a waste of money).
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They have at least one decent record across 3 subs most months and if they cut back and consolidated to one club offer then theyd have a solid slate of releases for the year. I wonder if they wouldn't be better focusing on Classics and in the months where they've only got a Patrice Rushden, low bar Bar Keys or, as much as I enjoyed it, a throw away Albert King then they chuck in a Spiritualized, White Stripes QotSA affair... Which would have covered them for 6 months of totally solid offerings. I'd pay reasonable cash for a 8 month run like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Spiritualized, Tyler McCoy, BVSC, Herbie Hancock and BB King and The Stooges. Makes more sense than bankrupting themselves trying to be something to everyone.
 
I really think the biggest mistake they made here (and Paul admitted this on Reddit), was hiking it up 50% at once instead of gradually which understandably comes across like greed.

I know many will disagree me but they've clearly been wanting to move to that more audiophile niche space, like Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Mofi, etc and this is bringing pricing in line with that. Whether they actually put out a product in line with that quality or worth that money is completely subjective. It's your money for discretionary purchases and you can choose to support the company or not, and support a company like this or not.
I think it's absolutely wild that people spend so much on MMJ releases which, despite amazing quality, I feel are way more overpriced than VMP and are a much shittier company when it comes to gouging customers. But to each their own

Don't get me wrong, the price increase sucks, and they went about it wrong. And I feel bad for those who really enjoyed the service and can't afford it anymore. But at the end of the day, it's just records and if you don't think it's worth it anymore, it's definitely easy to take your money and buy elsewhere. And if that's the case, VMP likely wasn't giving you the albums you really wanted for your collection anyway.
 
MikeH said:
Did I miss something where Pauly responded with :/ on reddit? I keep seeing it pop up everywhere now and saw something about how he messaged a mod to apologize for it?
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He uses that after his responses alot and has for while, just a way to bring a little levity to a situation. But people were obviously riled and now throwing it in his face. We'll probably see it for years now. It's going to be the new "what would you do with more time?".
 
wynn72 said:
He uses that after his responses alot and has for while, just a way to bring a little levity to a situation. But people were obviously riled and now throwing it in his face. We'll probably see it for years now. It's going to be the new "what would you do with more time?".
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Tyr said:
What would you do with more :/ ?
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It's already begun....
 
wynn72 said:
I really think the biggest mistake they made here (and Paul admitted this on Reddit), was hiking it up 50% at once instead of gradually which understandably comes across like greed.

I know many will disagree me but they've clearly been wanting to move to that more audiophile niche space, like Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Mofi, etc and this is bringing pricing in line with that. Whether they actually put out a product in line with that quality or worth that money is completely subjective. It's your money for discretionary purchases and you can choose to support the company or not, and support a company like this or not.
I think it's absolutely wild that people spend so much on MMJ releases which, despite amazing quality, I feel are way more overpriced than VMP and are a much shittier company when it comes to gouging customers. But to each their own

Don't get me wrong, the price increase sucks, and they went about it wrong. And I feel bad for those who really enjoyed the service and can't afford it anymore. But at the end of the day, it's just records and if you don't think it's worth it anymore, it's definitely easy to take your money and buy elsewhere. And if that's the case, VMP likely wasn't giving you the albums you really wanted for your collection anyway.
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I think I prefer that they just ripped the band-aid off instead of going up few bucks every few month. Hopefully this is as high as they go for a few years.
 
wynn72 said:
I really think the biggest mistake they made here (and Paul admitted this on Reddit), was hiking it up 50% at once instead of gradually which understandably comes across like greed.

I know many will disagree me but they've clearly been wanting to move to that more audiophile niche space, like Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Mofi, etc and this is bringing pricing in line with that. Whether they actually put out a product in line with that quality or worth that money is completely subjective. It's your money for discretionary purchases and you can choose to support the company or not, and support a company like this or not.
I think it's absolutely wild that people spend so much on MMJ releases which, despite amazing quality, I feel are way more overpriced than VMP and are a much shittier company when it comes to gouging customers. But to each their own

Don't get me wrong, the price increase sucks, and they went about it wrong. And I feel bad for those who really enjoyed the service and can't afford it anymore. But at the end of the day, it's just records and if you don't think it's worth it anymore, it's definitely easy to take your money and buy elsewhere. And if that's the case, VMP likely wasn't giving you the albums you really wanted for your collection anyway.
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Here's the thing though...all those labels you mention are WAY higher in quality, CS, QC...they exceed VMP in nearly every category of business. They are almost always AAA from master tapes, they are mostly up front about sourcing, process. They know where their records are pressed. They, for the most part, have great packaging, high quality art work, etc. You're comparing apples to oranges, not to mention that now VMP is charging MORE than AP for a single LP for something of inferior quality. I think I can count on one hand the number of VMP releases that have rivaled the sound quality of AP/MoFi from VMP and I was a member for 4 years. There's absolutely no justification for charging $40 for a single LP pressed at GZ.

On top of all of that, if I want an AP, MoFi, etc, I can choose the title I want and feel comfortable spending $40 on. I'm not forced into buying Patrice Rushen for $40+. I know there are swaps, swaps for credit, etc now but A) there's nothing stopping them from just cancelling the swaps for credit option and B) then I also have to have faith that they will release other albums I want but those too will be overpriced.

It seems they want the audiophile money without doing any of the actual steps to get there. Also, their marketing is CRAZY to me. Most "audiophiles" see VMP as an overpriced gimmick because of how they are marketed. When I tell people that Kevin Gray has done work with VMP and that the classics track was mostly AAA, pressed at good plants and actually sounded good, they were really confused by it.
 
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MikeH said:
Here's the thing though...all those labels you mention are WAY higher in quality, CS, QC...they exceed VMP in nearly every category of business. They are almost always AAA from master tapes, they are mostly up front about sourcing, process. They know where their records are pressed. They, for the most part, have great packaging, high quality art work, etc. You're comparing apples to oranges, not to mention that now VMP is charging MORE than AP for a single LP for something of inferior quality. I think I can count on one hand the number of VMP releases that have rivaled the sound quality of AP/MoFi from VMP and I was a member for 4 years. There's absolutely no justification for charging $40 for a single LP pressed at GZ.

On top of all of that, if I want an AP, MoFi, etc, I can choose the title I want and feel comfortable spending $40 on. I'm not forced into buying Patrice Rushen for $40+. I know there are swaps, swaps for credit, etc now but A) there's nothing stopping them from just cancelling the swaps for credit option and B) then I also have to have faith that they will release other albums I want but those too will be overpriced.
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And we've had this discussion before but firstly if they'd kept a single sub would they ever, ever gave stuck Patrice Rushden in and secondly if theyd stuck it in the store instead would it have sold out.

That record in particular is the one that makes me think they don't have either the quality to cover or resource to source enough really top material to meet their current business model
 
wynn72 said:
I know many will disagree me but they've clearly been wanting to move to that more audiophile niche space, like Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Mofi, etc and this is bringing pricing in line with that. Whether they actually put out a product in line with that quality or worth that money is completely subjective.
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I disagree that it is subjective. The vast majority of non-Classics releases do not meet the objective mastering and pressing standards of any of those companies.

Including Classics, the blurry level tweaked scanned in ringwear covers don't match the quality either.

Edit:sorry, not trying to pile on @MikeH beat me to it and said it better!
 
@wynn72 I also agree with you on Music Matters being mostly overpriced and being a company that has really shitty practices. I have purchased all of 1 album through them directly, which was one of the SRX albums. Any other MMs I have purchased used from my local or on discogs for around $40-$50 a piece which I think is fair for the fantastic quality. They are another example though of a company who has raised prices drastically based on second-hand sale prices.
 
MikeH said:
@wynn72 I also agree with you on Music Matters being mostly overpriced and being a company that has really shitty practices. I have purchased all of 1 album through them directly, which was one of the SRX albums. Any other MMs I have purchased used from my local or on discogs for around $40-$50 a piece which I think is fair for the fantastic quality. They are another example though of a company who has raised prices drastically based on second-hand sale prices.
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Yep, to beat a dead horse, MM is absolutely not worth what they currently charge, outside of the fact that they have manufactured scarcity and somehow have exclusive rights to those titles for now. They were an excellent product at a steep but not crazy price before they went above $45.
 
MikeH said:
The more I think about the numbers, the more I think that VMP is just actively trying to lower their subscriber base. Hike prices up 40%...if you lose a bunch of members, you could still be hitting the same numbers you're hitting in gross sales while also lowering your production and inventory costs (less members = less ROTMs pressed = less copies of Patrice Rushen sitting on the shelves). Less members theoretically means less CS issues to deal with. Everything becomes simpler. It's a crazy business idea though IMO...to actively piss off your customers and hope that enough won't be mad (or won't notice) and will stick around blindly.

edit: jinx @Bluecloud777
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I fully agree, but the crazy thing is, they still haven't addressed their foundational issues. So while some of the headaches might lessen a bit, people are now going to be paying a premium for products that will almost certainly still a) arrive late, b) have spotty quality control, and c) feature "curation" that may or may not be in alignment with how you would ideally like to spend your $. And while customer service wait times should get shorter, issues will almost certainly still be addressed via VMP's random (and maddening) form of triage. Unless they can simultaneously tighten up their business model - which they have promised and failed to deliver on multiple times - hard to imagine those who stay feeling good about the return on their investment.
 
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wynn72 said:
I really think the biggest mistake they made here (and Paul admitted this on Reddit), was hiking it up 50% at once instead of gradually which understandably comes across like greed.

I know many will disagree me but they've clearly been wanting to move to that more audiophile niche space, like Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Mofi, etc and this is bringing pricing in line with that. Whether they actually put out a product in line with that quality or worth that money is completely subjective. It's your money for discretionary purchases and you can choose to support the company or not, and support a company like this or not.
I think it's absolutely wild that people spend so much on MMJ releases which, despite amazing quality, I feel are way more overpriced than VMP and are a much shittier company when it comes to gouging customers. But to each their own

Don't get me wrong, the price increase sucks, and they went about it wrong. And I feel bad for those who really enjoyed the service and can't afford it anymore. But at the end of the day, it's just records and if you don't think it's worth it anymore, it's definitely easy to take your money and buy elsewhere. And if that's the case, VMP likely wasn't giving you the albums you really wanted for your collection anyway.
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Wanting to? The might actually show that by releasing that quality of record, even just once. The AAA classics are a big step up for them but still they aren’t close to being at the level of the $40 1LP mofi and so to ask $52 for them is insane
 
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